{"id":82415,"date":"2026-04-12T22:13:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T22:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga"},"modified":"2026-04-12T22:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T22:20:19","slug":"4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga","title":{"rendered":"4,000 Recruits Not Internal Says UPND’s George Mtonga"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>I wish to formally register my concern regarding the recent recruitment exercise described as an \u201cinternal staffing measure\u201d by the Zambia Police Service.<\/p>\n

While I acknowledge the operational need to address vacancies arising from retirements, attrition, and resignations, the scale and nature of this exercise raise serious legal, administrative, and governance concerns.<\/p>\n

1. Scale of Recruitment Raises Red Flags<\/p>\n

The reported intake of approximately 4,000 recruits cannot reasonably be classified as an internal adjustment.<\/p>\n

Internal recruitment, by its very nature, is:<\/p>\n

Limited in scope<\/p>\n

Targeted at existing personnel<\/p>\n

Incremental in nature<\/p>\n

A process of this magnitude constitutes, in substance, a national recruitment exercise, regardless of how it is labeled.<\/p>\n

2. Misclassification Undermines Transparency<\/p>\n

The attempt to categorize a large-scale intake as \u201cinternal\u201d creates the impression of:<\/p>\n

Avoidance of public scrutiny<\/p>\n

Circumvention of open competition<\/p>\n

Unequal access to public employment opportunities<\/p>\n

Under the Constitution of Zambia, public institutions are bound by principles of:<\/p>\n

Transparency<\/p>\n

Accountability<\/p>\n

Equal opportunity<\/p>\n

Further, the Service Commissions Act requires that recruitment into public service be conducted on a fair and competitive basis.<\/p>\n

These principles are not optional; they are foundational.<\/p>\n

3. Public Confidence Is at Risk<\/p>\n

Even if elements of the exercise included:<\/p>\n

Internal candidates<\/p>\n

Individuals from prior waiting lists<\/p>\n

The absence of a clear, nationwide public announcement creates a credibility gap.<\/p>\n

Public institutions do not operate only on legality\u2014they operate on trust.<\/p>\n

And trust requires:<\/p>\n

Visibility, openness, and equal access<\/p>\n

4. Demand for Clarification and Reform<\/p>\n

I therefore call upon the Zambia Police Service Commission and the Zambia Police Service to provide:<\/p>\n

Full disclosure of:<\/p>\n

Number of recruits<\/p>\n

Categories (internal vs external vs waiting list)<\/p>\n

Legal basis for classifying this exercise as \u201cinternal\u201d<\/p>\n

Public release of the selection criteria used<\/p>\n

5. Policy Position Going Forward<\/p>\n

To prevent recurrence, I strongly recommend:<\/p>\n

Mandatory public announcement thresholds<\/p>\n

Any recruitment exceeding a defined number (e.g., 100 officers) must be publicly advertised<\/p>\n

Clear statutory distinction between:<\/p>\n

Internal promotions<\/p>\n

External recruitment<\/p>\n

Publication of recruitment outcomes for public accountability<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n

A recruitment process of this scale cannot be internal in both form and substance.<\/p>\n

The integrity of public institutions depends not only on compliance with the law, but on adherence to the spirit of fairness and openness that the law seeks to protect.<\/p>\n

The Zambia Police Service must lead by example.<\/p>\n

Issued by:<\/p>\n

George N. Mtonga, MBA<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. I wish to formally register my concern regarding the recent recruitment exercise described as an \u201cinternal staffing measure\u201d by the Zambia Police Service. While I acknowledge the operational need to address vacancies arising from retirements, attrition, and resignations, the scale and nature of this exercise raise serious legal, administrative, and governance concerns. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":82414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,10],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-82415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-parties","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\n4,000 Recruits Not Internal Says UPND's George Mtonga - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I wish to formally register my concern regarding the recent recruitment exercise described as an \u201cinternal staffing meas ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4,000 Recruits Not Internal Says UPND's George Mtonga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I wish to formally register my concern regarding the recent recruitment exercise described as an \u201cinternal staffing meas ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-12T22:13:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-12T22:20:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/04\/sm_1776032333.786635.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"4,000 Recruits Not Internal Says UPND’s George Mtonga\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-12T22:13:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-12T22:20:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga\"},\"wordCount\":400,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/04\/sm_1776032333.786635.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/4000-recruits-not-internal-says-upnds-george-mtonga\",\"name\":\"4,000 Recruits Not Internal Says UPND's George Mtonga - 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